I've made french macarons many many times. My first few attempts ended in misery - broken shells, cracks, hollows, no feet. Everything that could go wrong in a bad macaron - did.

However, I never stopped trying. Who knows how much pounds of almond flour/meal and powdered sugar I sieved. But, it was not in vain. I learned so much from all these failures, and I want to share my tips and tricks with you.

Today, I make perfect macarons every time. Not a single crack in any batch. Every batch has feet. They are perfect.

When I first started, I did use recipes that you find everywhere online. The ones that sift powdered sugar and almond flour together. The ones that get folded into stiffed egg whites. They failed me. I switched to recipes that used meringue powder. I even did Pierre Herme's recipe, that require boiling sugar and water to a syrup stage. I did everything.

The recipe that folds almond meal/icing sugar into stiffed egg whites never worked for me. I tried them a thousand times. What irony - they are now my favorite macaron recipe.

The meringue powder recipe was the first success for me. However, those produced hollows for me. Hollows are the air pocket gap between the shell and chewy center.

The recipe that requires the sugar syrup also worked. They also produced hollows and lopsided feet on the macarons. One side had more "feet" than the other. I had perfect ones in some batches. But I disliked making syrup. It was one step I wanted to remove. Making macarons is already tedious enough, I don't want to add another step that could go wrong.

So I went back to the first recipe I've tried. I modified it just a little bit. From all the mistakes and tricks I've learned - My first recipe worked. I was thrilled. The recipe that is the most simplest, also produced the best macarons for me now. Ironic that I use to hate it so much.

Ok, let me share the recipe first. Then I will share my tips and tricks.

Ingredients:

3 large egg whites, ~95-100g, aged overnight

1/4 tps cream of tartar

1/4 cup sugar, 50g

pinch of salt

2 cups powdered sugar, 200g

1 cup almond flour, 120g

Directions:

1. Sift the salt, powdered sugar, and almond flour into a large container. Discard any clumps in the sieve.

3. Add 1/3 of the almond mixture into the egg whites. Fold until incorporated - about 15-20 turns. Then add another 1/3. Fold again. Repeat one last time. It will take about 65 folds for the right consistency.

4. Pipe small circles onto a baking sheet/tray lined with a baking mat or parchment paper. I used 3 half-sheets/trays.

5. Let rest until a skin forms. It should no longer be sticky. 30-60 minutes.

6. Bake at 275F for 17 minutes.

7. Let cool completely before attempting to peel them off.

This weekend, I made 3 full batches of that recipe. Chocolate, lemon, and raspberry flavor ones. Every macaron had feet. Not a single crack was found.

Okay! Now for the tips and tricks. I guarantee you can get perfect macarons too.

Tips and Tricks for perfect Macarons:

1. Buy/Get a food scale. Macarons are so delicate. You want precise measurements.

2. Almond flour can be made at home or bought at a store. Regardless of how you obtained it, sieve only the almond flour/meal before starting the recipe. You should remove all the almond bits that are not powdered-like. You want to start your recipe with real almond flour, not just finely grounded almonds. Now, from the sieved/sifted almond flour, measure out the 120 grams to start the recipe.

3. Aged egg whites are important. Don't use fresh eggs. Crack and separate your eggs whites into a small bowl. Loosely cover it with a paper towel on your counter overnight.

4. Always sift your icing sugar and almond flour, even if no clumps are visible. This will prevent cracks.

5. Beat your egg whites until foamy before adding sugar. Foamy like a thick cloud in a bubble bath. Then add your sugar in 3 batches. This helps dissolve the sugar.

6. Beat your egg whites until stiff peaks form. Stiff but not dry. It should still be shiny and glossy. Add gel food coloring now if desired. Whisk to blend.

7. The consistency you are looking for after folding all the almond mixture is "magma." It should flow like magma from your spatula when you lift some batter up with your spatula. A ribbon should also form in the batter when the magma falls down. This takes me about 65 folds.

8. The batter should not be super thick, or too runny. Too thick, and you will have peaks in your piped circles. Too runny and you will never have perfect circles. A piped circle should lose any peaks within 45 seconds if your batter is correct.

9. After you pipe your circles, bang your baking sheet gently on the counter several times to pop any air bubbles. Do this to all your baking sheets.

10. Let the skin form. This can take 30 to 60 minutes. A skin should form around the macaron. The sides and top should not be sticky. Touch it before baking.

11. After the skin forms, preheat your oven to 275F. Bake for 10 minutes. Then spin/rotate the tray, and bake for another 7 minutes. This ensures even browning and prevents the oven from getting too hot. If it is too hot, the macarons will crack. Double pan your sheets if necessary.

12. After the macarons are done baking. Let them cool completely. If they are still warm, it won't peel off the parchment paper.

I hope my tips and tricks help you. They have definitely helped me obtain perfect macarons.

Do you want to know what it looks like when it's baking? I do. I sit in front of my oven to watch the magic happen every time. It only takes about 8 minutes for magic to happen.

From these piped circles:

to these feeted macaron shells:

After the shell forms, I throw them in the oven:

After 2-3 minutes of baking, they are still pretty flat:

At 4 minutes, they get a little taller:

At 5-6 minutes:

At 7-8 minutes:

Completely baked and cooling:

Watching the first batch form feet is always my favorite part in making macarons. I sent my friend some macarons via snail-mail, aka the USPS. I hope they arrive safely. I will find out on Wednesday if you can send/mail macarons.

From my 3 batches of macarons, I made about 120 filled cookies. Due to being tired and lazy. I chose to fill them with fillings I can get from a jar. I chose nutella for chocolate, lemon curd for lemon, and raspberry preserves for raspberry. Next time I will make ganache and flavored buttercream.

hi i was just wondering if i have insufficient baking sheets is it possible to leave the mixture in the bag in t he fridge or something while i wait for the rest to bake? also is it possible to bake more than 1 tray of macarons at the same time?

@Unknown Hi! I wouldn't recommend leaving the mixture in the piping bag. Macarons are very tricky. While it's resting in the piping bag, the egg whites may break down, causing your batter to be runny and other problems. If you are short on baking sheets, I recommend you pipe them on parchment paper on the counter. Then you can slide the parchment paper onto a baking sheet when you have one available.

If your baking sheets are small, and you can fit 2 trays on the same rack, then yes, you can bake more than one tray. However, do not bake one tray on the top rack and bottom rack. Macarons like the oven to themselves. The bottom rack macarons will likely burn and crack.

I just tried this recipe after making multiple batches of macarons almost everyday for a week. I have had a few minor successes and many failures but this recipe worked better than anything I tried! The macarons are perfectly smooth and have nice, even feet. I am so incredibly happy with how they turned out -- thank you!!!

Hi Gwen - I'v had a couple of disastrous attempts at making macarons and would like to try your recipe. Your recipe calls for 'sugar' and 'powdered sugar'; is the first just ordinary white sugar or caster sugar and what is powdered sugar - icing sugar or something different?

Thank you for this! I had one success and many more failures, then tried this last night. All my macarons had feet, no cracking! Amazing. My oven is all over the place with temperature the higher I go, so I think the lower temp really helps. I am so excited! When you make the flavored shells, or add coloring, how much do you add? Do you modify the rest of the recipe at all?

Gwen! I just came across your blog trying to figure out why my first ever batch of macarons baking in the oven didn't have feet! They were indeed irregular and peaked when I piped them out and since you suggested this is due to undermixing I scraped the remaining two trays of piped macarons back into the bowl for extra folding. Now I have beautiful round smooth macarons baking and FEET growing! You just made my first ever batch of macarons a success! Thanks ever so much!Postscript: They taste amazing too.... :)

I just used my own recipe that I always use but used your oven temp and cooking time and mine turned out perfect every tray. I'm thinking it's the lower cooking time that fixed mine because I don't age my eggs or let them form a skin as a baker of macarons once told me, those steps aren't needed :)

When I make them, they turn out very bubbly, and have a bunch of tiny holes all throughout the surface without feet. Also, when I try beating the egg whites, it doesn't work for me. I have to put in the sugar when it's a soft peak. And should the rack in the oven be in the middle, I usually put it at the top, with a tray at the bottom to block the heat, then switch. Please help~ I'm desperate!

@Sabrina Hi Sabrina. Try tapping your piped sheet pan on the counter a couple times to bring air bubbles to the top and to pop them. This should also help with the no feet problem. Egg whites need to be beat in a bowl with no oil/fat. Make sure all your bowls and beaters are clean from oil. Putting the sugar in at soft peaks should be ok too. Just beat until stiff in the end. I have my rack in the middle, and double pan my pan if needed. I only rotate the pan halfway into baking, I don't switch it to any other rack.

My first ever attempt was with a recipe i found on taste.com that left them looking awful. the flavours were great but the did not have feet. I used the flavours from that recipe with your recipe and they are almost perfect! The only thing was that my macarons collapsed in my last two batches? My only thought is that i left the batter out as i only have one baking tray...

@SabrinaHi Sabrina. You probably did over mix. They shouldn't spread out to 'flat.' If you over mix, the batter will be runny and spread out like crazy. Mine hold their shape the whole time, even after banging it on the counter. Otherwise...the egg whites were not stiff peaks. Hope this helps. Are you having these problems using my recipe and technique?

Hi. Never leave batter out. Pipe them onto parchment paper to dry. Slide the paper onto your baking tray after you are done with the first batch. And repeat. This will help with the 1 baking tray problem.

Do you grind the almonds in the food processor? The first time I followed this same recipe that I found online they were near perfect! I had ground up my own almond flour. The second time I use almond meal/flour I bought at a store. However this time the batter remained coarse during the macaronage and did not thin out no matter how much stirring and folding I did. Eventually I just piped it just to see how they would turn out and they were all cracked and a mess. I sifted the almond flour both times so I can't imagine what I did wrong! Tried the premade almond flour again with the Italian method and again got a thick coarse batter that would not thin. I can only think its the almond flour causing the problem. What do you think? A food processor is on its way so I will find out soon enough!

@Ellie Anderson Hi. I do not grind the almonds in the food processor. I just buy the almond flour from the store, and sift them all into a container, and then measure out the right amount when I want to start making them. I discard all almond pieces that failed to be sift through. You may need a finer sieve if the batter is coarse even after sifting. I hope this helps.

Could it have been the food coloring then? I use wilton gel food coloring. The first time I made macarons (the sucessful attempt) I only used a few drops and got a light pink. The second and third attempt I wanted a darker blue so I added much more gel food coloring. Could this have set the batter off and make it as thick and pastey as it was?

@Ellie Anderson Hi Ellie. I just actually made a batch of macarons, and used a couple drops of wilton food coloring. The consistency is magma like, and a ribbon forms when i pick up the spatula. I use gel paste color. Do not use any water food color. The gel paste shouldn't affect the batter, especially if you add a few drops. Gel paste is crazy concentrated...I can't see how you can use so much that the batter is ruined. Regardless, less say you used too much gel paste, let the skin form when you air dry it. Too much gel paste will just have a longer skin forming time. It usually takes an hour for my skins to form.

Also, if the batter is too thick, give it a couple more folds. It should be magma like and form/hold a ribbon. Don't over fold, or it will be runny.I hope this helps.

So it wasn't the gel food coloring. Then it must have been the almond flour! I have a food processor coming soon so I will have to do a test between grinding my own almonds and using the pre-made almond flour again. Thanks for all your help!!

GwenThank you so much.My history with macarons is not something to be proud of.I had few successes but mostly failures.I couldn't count how many batches of failed macarons ended up in trash bin.Yesterday I tried your recipe along with all tips and they went out PERFECTLY.I made coconut (white), lemon (yellow), strawberry (pink), pistachio (green) and salted caramel (brown) - two trays of each flavor - ten trays in total. :)My 7 year old son takes them for his becoming a pupil celebration in school.Thanks again.Magdalena

Hello, GwenI've tried making macarons and experienced the same as you did. I found this recipe is working for everyone, I shall give it a try :)One thing bothered me is the egg whites. Is it okay to leave it just covered with a paper towel on the counter overnight? I thought not putting eggs in the fridge may ruin them? Really appreciate your advice on it, so I could try on your recipe soonThanks

I want to ask about resting time for macron before baking.wht kind of temperature need to make crust on top.chilled or humid or hot or room temperature. Most of the time is rainy season so weather is quit humid.ols suggest. .its very urgent. .

Thank you very much for the macaron recipe. I tried the recipe three times this week, and my macaron came out perfect every time. They are so beautiful and delicious. I didn't even weigh the ingredients, because I don't own a scale. I'm so thankful for stumbling upon your blog, I'll definitely treasure your macaron recipe forever.

Hi! Macarons are just inherently sweet. You can fill them with fillings that are less sweet to balance out the sweetness. I also find that they taste better after 24 hours, and are a tad less sweet. Hope this helps.

honestly i haven't tried your recipe yet but i'm going to since it's holiday now. however, i've tried making macaroons before and it was a mess. my first on has feet but the coloring turns brownish as if it was burnt, and the second batch has the right color yet it spreads. do you have any solution.

also, what if i realize that i over mixed my batter and it's runny. how can i turn it into the right consistency?

I also tried macarons a few times... I always failed... Now I tried your recipe... I don't know why.. So I have two Questions.. :- what can I Do, if the batter is too runny? - when Do I have to add Icing sugar and when regular sugar?

Runny batter occurs when you over mix. I would test for consistency often. Try not to over mix. You may also have forgotten to age your egg whites, or perhaps you under beat them, or you let the beaten egg whites rest for too long before incorporating the almond/sugar mixture (beaten egg whites deflate quickly).

I add the regular sugar when I'm beating the egg whites. The powered sugar is sifted with the almond flour, which will be folded into the beaten eggs when stiff peaks are achieved.

Hi Gwen. About the gel coloring, i need to add into the egg white during it reached soft peak or stiff peak? Then i have to whisk or just simply fold it? I tried to add it during stiff peak but turn out i get a non shiny n smooth batter. End up i got lopsided feet. Help me. Thank you.

Hi Gwen. I tred to make macarons so many times, but I didn't get the result I wanted until I found your blog. With your tips and recipe finally I could make perfect macarons. I'm so happy about it. Thank you so much :)

Hi Gwen. What is the chocolate modification? Do you just add a few tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder without modifying the rest of the recipe? I know consistency is critical here. Thanks -- Genevieve

My old recipe suddenly stopped producing results, so I gave your recipe a shot. The disasters weren't bad compared to the last batch I made with my old recipe. The all have cracks, but it's more to do with my Conv. Bake not being able to go less than 300. I'll bake my next batch at 275 on reg. bake setting and see how that'll go. :)

Hi GwenI used your recipe to turn out my very first batch of macarons WITH FEET AND NO CRACKS. I was thrilled. Have been trying for some time with limited success. From now on yours is the only one for me.Thank you so much.Ros Billson

I have been making macarons for about 5 months. My uncolored ones come out perfect, however when I color them, the color looks faded and the colored macarons crack. I have baked them on the same cookie sheet with uncolored macarons and the uncolored ones do not crack. I am using Americolor gel color. I am dividing the batter so that I can have two colors without making two batches so I am adding the color after I have folded in the flour/powdered sugar mixture. Any suggestions?

@Allison Hi Allison! I usually add the color gel after I beat the egg whites.

However, when I want 2 or more colors in one batch, I fold the almond mixture into the egg whites. BUT before the mixture achieves that magma consistency, I divide the batter into 2 or 3 bowls. I add 2 to 3 drops of the gel paste in each bowl. Fold a little more, and when the consistency is reached, I stop and pipe.

Colored macarons take longer to dry and to form that skin. So if you find you are having cracked shells, let them dry a little longer, until that skin forms and doesn't stick to your fingers when you touch it. After that, then bake as usual. Hope this helps.

Hi GwenI am achieving excellent results with your recipe for which I am most grateful. I would however like to try chocolate macarons and would like to know how much cocoa powder to add to your recipe.Please help.Ros Billson

Is the egg white part in this recipe replaced by meringue powder ok? I tried few times making the macaron, none of the time is success, too brownie, got crack, like biscuit.. I am looking forward to try your recipe and hope I can finally have a success one like most of you do with this recipe. One more question, how many "circle" can make with the ingredient proportion of this recipe? Thank you.

@Anonymous Hi. Egg whites and meringue powder are not the same. So I would not substitute them. How many shells you can make will depend on how big your circles are, I get about 80 1-inch shells (40 cookies) from this recipe.

Hi Wendy! I've been on a quest for perfect macarons for a while now, and have read extensively on the subject.. about ingredient ratios, for example. Tried some recipes that turned out eggy, others too sweet. I tweaked until I got exactly the ratio I now see you are using for your recipe! Even the oven temp/time that I found works is the same. I'm so glad there is proof that this one works! I've gotten perfect results a couple of times, but all of the other times, my macarons are hollow. Sometimes worse than others. I was carefully watching for hollows last night while baking macarons, and discovered they go hollow while in the oven. What do you think could be the problem? I'm suspecting I'm doing something wrong with the meringue, maybe not beating it enough ... do you have any advice for me? Thanks in advance! Loved your post! :)

Hi i follow ur recipe n i added instant coffee powder to make it into coffee macaron. I tried twice but i always fail as my macaron had beautiful feet but crack on top. It always happen on coffee macaron n not other flavour.

Hi, I buy my almond flour from Sprouts or Trader's Joes. When I said real almond flour, I meant for you to sift all the store-bought almond flour first before measuring any of it. This gives you real almond flour. There will be tiny little almond chucks that won't make it through the sieve. Discard those or use for something else.

Hi, just wanted to say thank you for a wonderful recipe and tutorial! I am making macaroons second time today following your recipe and advise and must say it is the best I saw - and definitely the easiest! I went to a macaroon making course in London last year and never even attempted to make them until now - that's how complicated it all sounded!

i really needed to read some of these macarons tips so that I can up my baking game. The past few batches have been OK but I really want to step up my game and make them phenominal. I wanted to try making gluten free macarons so I might change up the recipe a little bit to make it work

Hi, this is my third time making these cookies with the second time being a disaster. Of all of the recipes I looked in I decided to try this one and guess what; total success. They came out perfect I just could not believe it. The only simple thing is that they were a bit small. Just want to thank you for your recipe and tips.

By baking at the low temp you mentioned, do you still use a tray or foil to shield the macarons from browning/ charring? I feel tt my oven is on the hotter side.All my macarons always came out tad darker.thanks

I plan on trying your recipe tomorrow since I have to leave the whites out for 24 hours. I noticed that my oven browns any goods in the center of my baking sheet and doesn't really brown the foods on the ends of my baking sheet. Any recommendations on this issue?

I made the French macarons but they are soft in the middle like they are not done and, slightly sunken. I baked for 22 minutes until they came off easily but still too soft in the center. I have made them 3 times now and it does the same thing every time. Any suggestions? Diana

If they are too soft, you can bake them a little longer to make them more crispy. Every oven is different, so the estimated time can be off a little.

@AnonymousHi Diana. A couple things could have happened that causes soft and sunken centers. 1. You did not beat your egg whites long enough to form stiff peaks. 2. You over mixed when you folded the almond flour mixture into the egg whites. As soon as you achieve the magma-consistency stop folding. 3. You did not wait long enough for the piped circles to dry and form a shell before baking.4. Some times humidity just ruins macarons. Avoid making these on a rainy day.

Hello Gwen,I have made your recipe today and followed all of your hints and tricks and they came out beautifully. I was getting so discouraged this week as I had made 4 batches and not one turned out. Thank you,thank you,thank you so much,this will be my go to recipe from now on.I will be following you for sure!

Hi Gwen! I'm going to attempt your recipe for the first time this weekend. Question: how long do they last and how do you store them? Airtight container? Also, do you use pasteurized egg whites from a carton?Thanks?

Hi Gwen! I am currently making macaroons at the moment and I had a question. Every time I make macaroons, they stick to the baking sheet and Ieave paper on them when I take them off. I was wondering if it's possible to put flour on the baking sheet before I pipe them on so they don't get stuck when I try to take them off. Do you think that is a good idea?

@Anonymous Hi. I never used flour to prevent sticking, so I do not know if it will work. If you use parchment paper, or a non-stick silpat mat, sticking will not be a problem. Do not use wax paper, that is not safe for baking. Do not pipe onto the baking sheet directly either. It needs parchment paper or a silpat mat.

Hello Wen! My macarons are almost there! They've got feet, the pretty dome, they are fluffy inside while in the oven, but! as soon as i take them out the insides collapse, leaving hollow macarons. I've been baking them at around 300F for almost 20 mins.. until they start to brown a bit and feel firm when touched (but the insides still look moist). I've tried leaving them more time but only results in very browned macarons and still hollow. Do you have any tips on temperature/time that can help to avoid hollows? ...or anything else you think should be done to avoid this issue? Thanks!

Love your recipe. I used another on the weekend that worked well the first time I tried it but failed terribly so when I stumbled across yours and saw the use of cream of tartar I was intrigued as my other go-to macaron recipe doesn't call for it.

It worked amazingly! I also didn't age my whites - popped them in the microwave for 10 seconds and still have great results.

Hi Gwen,I have to confess that I am a beginner in baking macarons even though I love them so much! Your post is great and I will try to follow your advices to improve my skills in baking macarons. I was wondering what you think about using silicon molds. I am currently using them but I saw that some people suggest to use regular baking sheets. What do you think? Thanks a lot!

Hi Gwen, I'd like to try making your macarons, I've tried another recipe before but it was just so-so, in other words not very successful, not much feet! If I'd like to make it in several different colors in one batch, how do I do it? Please help. Thank you.

Hi Gwen, I've been trying to make macarons but I don't know how to flavour them, other than icing. I know that you can't put liquid food colouring in because it messes with the consistency. Is it the same with liquid flavouring? Please help.

Thank you for your wonderful tips! I was wondering if you have any advise on storage? My event is Saturday and I will have so many other things to do, cleaning, setting up tables decorating house, the food I am serving etc. How early can I make them and what is the best storage method? I hear so many conflicting methods. Thank you!

Hi Gwen, I want to thank you for the amazing blog on how to make macarons. The tips are particularly helpful. I have been contemplating on making macarons for a long long time but didn't dare as I know the success rate is slim, plus I am not much of a baker. I researched at least 12 recipes and chose yours. Read your tips over and over. Voila! It pays off. I made my first attempt yesterday. Success! All macarons have smooth surface and no cracks and abundant feet ... I followed through everything to the dot. Bought a scale to make perfect measurement. I didn't have a decorating squeezer and just used a spoon but everything still turned out perfect.

Now my one big questions is if it's possible to use less icing sugar as I'd like to make some for my diabetic best friend. If the macarons are less sweet, I'm sure we can all use a few more. But I was afraid of altering your recipe for fear that the batter may not turn out right, ruining the whole project. Can you shed some light as to how to reduce the sweetness and still make the perfect macarons? Thanks! You are life changing. I went to buy a squeezer today and will commence on my macaron journey. My friends just couldn't believe a non baker like me can make perfect macarons the first time. I'll refer them to your blog for sure!

@nana linaHi Nana... i've done the recipe and I can tell you that yes, you can make smaller batches, just make sure all ingredients keep the same ratio to eachother. I've customized the almond/sugar qty depending on how much the egg whites end up weighing. So if you wanna half it, go ahead! :)

Thank you so much for the tips and tricks gwen. Works wonders for a newbie like me. Tried making it for the first time today and it came out good. I will need to fold a littlr more next time. Was so excited and waited in front of the oven to see the foot formed lol. Thanks again for the beautiful guide.

Thank you for your nice tips! I was wondering if you have any advise on storage? My event is Saturday and I will have so many other things to do, cleaning, setting up tables decorating house, the food I am serving etc. How early can I make them and what is the best storage method? I hear so many conflicting methods. Thank you!

Thank you so much for this blog and you valuable tips. Frankly I did not try your receipe yet but I am gonna give it a try , but before I watched one vedio on YouTube and came out wonderful but without feet ... Do you know what is my mistake?Thanks for your reply

After months of research watching videos, reading blogs and cookbooks Your recipe and tips drew me in like a moth. Measured my egg whites out and left them out last night. With all the ingrediants assembled it took me less than 30 minutes today to assemble and pipe.Success!!! So impressed! Thank you!

Thank you for sharing! I did have a question--I am using a book and it is saying not to substitute extracts for a "flavor compound" because, extracts are water based and would add too much liquid to the macaron base. Mint extract is all I have. Do you have suggestions if I can use it and when? It says the "mint flavor compound is done at macaronnage stage. Thank you in advanced!

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